FEATURED POST

In dark times we must seek light and amplify good. Hug your friends. Make music. Laugh a lot. Walk in nature. Be silly. Be weird. Be fierce. Be generous. Be kind. In that spirit, we want to share some photos from a recent walk. Below the photos, writer Kelly Hayes-Raitt offers a brief story from her life in Portugal to give you a chuckle. Laughter brings more light to the world. Keep laughing. nature heals us precious life shifting shapes of nature solace at the beach Lost

I look forward to going to the dentist -- truly. Cleanings are never pleasant, but I enjoy talking with our dentist, Dr. Ricardo Coutinho, who enjoys discussing social norms, economics, and international politics. Like most medical professionals in Portugal, he speaks fluent English, which makes conversation easy for me. Dr. Ricardo does our six-month cleanings himself. Although a hygienist typically handles them after the first visit, I suspect he keeps us on his schedule be

Category 3 hurricane winds hit close to home A few days ago, our region of Portugal was hit by a Bomb Cyclone 1   ( explosive cyclogenesis ) that was accompanied by a S corpion’s Tail . 2   This extreme weather event brought winds up to 202 km/h (120 mph) in the early morning hours of January 29,  leaving a trail of destruction and heartache. Hurricane-force winds ripped off roofs, destroyed aircraft, downed power lines, ruined homes and cars, and ended lives. This video s

Yesterday, orange trees caught my attention in downtown Alcobaça and prompted a heartfelt reflection on this moment and place. I grew up near orange groves in Southern California, yet seeing this fruit ripening in the heart of winter still invokes wonder. Enormous orange spheres burst with color, practically singing Joy!   Abundance!   Hope!   Can´t you just you smell them? I had just left a small group of fellow immigrants, all of us trying to memorize lines of a Portuguese